August 2014 Feature..."Under the Influence"
JAMES DAVIS
JDT Trucking
Medford, OR
____________________________

1993 Peterbilt 379

The beginning of JDT Trucking started with a young boy that was steeped in the words of his Father, “Big Ed” Davis: Work hard, work smart, put pride in everything you do and treat people right. Qualities that were learned at a young age and never forgotten. James was exposed to trucks early on, whether it was helping Big Ed wash his truck or riding shot gun flashing the clearance lights when necessary. Big Ed had planted the seed of pride in not only owning nice rigs, but the blood sweat and tears that goes into getting them there.

Fast forward to 2005, four trucks under his belt and a burning desire to create his “dream” James purchased a 1993 Peterbilt 379. A true fixer-upper that needed a lot of attention. The Forest green Pete with 63” Standup sleeper was a far cry from the hot rod, stretched out, low riding Pete that he had envisioned, but James not being one to shy away from a challenge took on the project. James went to work fixing and fine tuning what he could, all while working hard hauling up and down I-5 in his work truck, a 1988 Peterbilt Cabover. Two short years later the 93’ Pete made its debut appearance at the Reno Truck Show where it took home several awards. All of the long days and longer nights had paid off for James, and all of those who had helped.

James kept on this cycle of finding “work trucks” and rebuilding them to show quality. With a fully loaded fleet of 16 power units under some of the West Coast’s best drivers, JDT Logistics was established. Once a one man show, now a well-oiled machine comprised of Peterbilts, and a Kenworth; JDT has taken style and workability to feats once thought unobtainable.

~1993 Pete 379 extended hood with turned-up 3406E 550 Cat, a 13-speed tranny, 308-inch wheelbase and 3.23 rears

~Ride low installed a car hauler front axle and heavy modifications to the rear suspensions and air bags. He removed standup sleeper and replaced it with old school 36-inch flattop, "suicide" side doors on sleeper and a rear window. Shaved all the door handles and vents, and then reskinned the cab doors. Sleek//clean//lines//

~Trevor Luebbert of Kaufman's Sheet Metal in Tangent, OR helped create custom step boxes with rounded edges, 9-inch cab and sleeper extensions, blank air cleaner panels, deck plates and more. 

~Stock headlights replaced with 359 double-rounds which were mounted as low as possible on stock Pete 359 brackets.

~To clean up the front even more fiberglass fenders were installed, the fender brackets removed and the grille shroud was extended down to fill in the gap. 

~Two-toned paint to finish the look AUSTEN'S BODY SHOP in CANBY, OR sprayed the two color scheme orange on the bottom and black on the top with a thin silver leaf accent stripe added between the two for a final touch. In 2012 the truck was stretched, and the truck was re-painted by Bill and Lisa Abernethy of Commercial Collision and Paint Central Point, OR.

~Interior - Embossed flames on black leather on door panels and headliner. Sleeper was modified into a four seat couch that folds into a bed. Work was done by Randy of Showtime Auto Upholstery Medford, OR.

~Dash painted orange with chrome gauges and switch extensions

~Pin striping Done by Rick Evans of Medford, OR

~Monitors//stereo system// Soundstream reverse flip DVD deck, two tv monitors, 24 speakers in all, four amps, Memphis sound.

~THANKS FOR HELP~
Jeremy Smith, Jason Setterberg, Bob Hulbert, Tim Austen, and Trevor Luebbert for their hard work and dedication to see this build through. Father and Mother Ed and Rayven Davis, Heather Davis and kids, love support and foundation.